Chapter 294: Who’s Going to Spoil You?

Technically, that was true, but Wang Pingfeng still felt Xie Ning was targeting him.

He felt that everything she said and did was aimed at him, which made him furious.

After Xie Ning got out of the car, Wang Meijuan couldn’t resist poking her brother and complaining in a low voice, "Who are you making that sour face for? Don’t forget who brought us along and who’s giving us food and water."

Why did he have to be so contrary? It was one thing to throw his weight around at home, but now that they were out in the world, who was going to spoil him like their mom did?

Wang Pingfeng’s expression was dangerously dark. He turned and shot his sister a vicious glare. "You need to get this straight. The base gave their squad this mission."

"They’re just getting paid to do a job! They’re required to save us. And the food and water isn’t hers, personally—it’s all base property." The more Wang Pingfeng spoke, the angrier he became. "Who does she think she is, ordering us around all day? As if she has any real authority."

That was it. He just couldn’t stand her.

’A woman, getting this uppity... Is she trying to start a rebellion?’

"Shut up." Wang Pinglang, who couldn’t stand to listen anymore, turned and roared at his yammering younger brother.

He pointed a finger at Wang Pingfeng. "If you get kicked out of the car later because of that attitude, don’t you dare blame anyone but yourself, and don’t say your brother and sister didn’t try to help you."

"She wouldn’t dare," Wang Pingfeng panicked. "They’ve really got some nerve. Wasn’t leaving us for dead before enough for them? Now they want to kick ordinary survivors like us out of the car? Who gave them that kind of authority?"

Wang Pinglang’s eyes widened with anger. "If you don’t want to get kicked out, then shut your mouth! Not another word out of you from now on. Stay out of things that don’t concern you!"

"Big Bro, how did you get so spineless?"

Wang Pinglang sneered, "I’d rather be a coward than be as stubborn and inflexible as you."

The volume on the Bluetooth speaker Xie Ning had given Wang Zongxuan was perfect. It was loud enough for the three or four surrounding buildings to hear the announcements, but also enough to lure out the scattered zombies in the stairwells.

From a fifth-floor window in Building Five, a few zombies smashed through the glass and eagerly leaped down.

But they seemed to have overestimated their own durability. Most of them shattered on impact, limbs scattering.

One zombie crashed into a flowerbed. Only its upper torso remained, twitching nonstop as its mouth gaped, its sharp teeth CLACKING together.

Xie Ning walked over, pried the Crystal Core from its head with her Metal Knife, and sent the corpse flying with a kick.

Just then, a few filthy faces appeared in a ninth-floor window, waving vigorously at Xie Ning’s group below.

Xie Ning glanced up at them with a blank expression, then turned to Ji Taixian, who was holding a megaphone. "This is a waste of time. There must be hundreds of buildings in this area. Five minutes per building, max. If no one wants to come down and leave with us, we’ll consider them to have given up. Don’t waste time dithering with them."

She wasn’t Captain Zuo; she didn’t have the patience to coddle these hothouse flowers.

It was their life. Whether they wanted to take a chance and fight for it was their own decision.

Ji Taixian nodded, raising the megaphone to continue. "Everyone upstairs, listen closely! We are a rescue team dispatched from Golden City Base. Our purpose is to rescue all survivors. You have five minutes to come downstairs and assemble for departure. Otherwise, you will be considered to have forfeited your chance to evacuate."

A group of men and women crowded at the ninth-floor window had clearly heard the announcement from below. One of them frantically shoved the window open and roared, "We have elderly and children here! Can’t you come up and lend a hand?"

"There are several flesh-eating zombies wandering the stairwells on the floors below! How are we supposed to get past them?"

"That’s right! Please, come up and save us!"

Xie Ning took a deep breath and glanced down at the time on her phone. "We’re out of time. If we spend this much time on the first building, how will we manage the rest? At this rate, we won’t even be able to search half a residential block in this district before nightfall. Let’s go."

With that, she strode forward and opened the passenger door of the van.

"Let’s go!" Ji Taixian, Wang Zongxuan, and the others followed suit, boarding the large MPV.

When the people in the ninth-floor window saw this, they panicked. The rescue team really wasn’t playing by the rules—they were actually leaving.

Someone immediately complained, "See? I told you all! We should’ve just pulled ourselves together and gone down. What was the point of all that talk? Now look, they’re actually leaving!"

The middle-aged man who had loudly demanded that Xie Ning’s team come up to get them leaned out the window and yelled, "Wait, wait! We’re coming down right now! Give us a few minutes."

Xie Ning glanced out the window, her expression cold, and announced in a clear voice, "I’ll give you three more minutes. After that, we’re gone."

Though her voice wasn’t loud, it was infused with her spiritual power, reaching every person’s ears with perfect clarity. Her tone was cold and unfeeling, yet each word was chillingly distinct.

The survivors on the ninth floor didn’t dare hesitate any longer. They hastily grabbed their belongings and filed out the door one by one.

Some carried their mothers, who had trouble walking, on their backs; others held their children. A group of a dozen or so people, led by the middle-aged man, clutched improvised weapons like shovels and clubs as they shuffled nervously out the door.

The stairwell was eerily quiet. It was only then that they realized the few zombies that had been lingering by the stairwell entrance had vanished.

They must have been lured downstairs by all the commotion.

Anxious and on edge, the group huddled together as they descended from the ninth floor. Their journey down was surprisingly smooth.

As they stumbled out of the building one after another, out of breath, the woman holding a child quickly shielded her eyes from the blinding sun. "Oh my god, it’s even hotter out here than it was inside."

By this time, Xie Ning had already ordered everyone out of the vehicles. She gave a slight nod to Ji Taixian as he came to her side.

Ji Taixian made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and a bus materialized in front of the crowd. Xie Ning, in turn, recalled the small van.

Yuan led Wang Zongxuan and a few others to clear away some debris, creating a path just wide enough for the bus to squeeze through.

"Get on," Xie Ning ordered with a wave.

The woman holding the child made a beeline for the two large MPVs parked behind the bus.

Song Kexin and Cres, blocking the entrance, exchanged a glance with the woman.

"Excuse me, miss, could you let me through?" Though the woman was thin, she looked to be in reasonably good health, with some color in her cheeks.

Song Kexin didn’t move, offering the woman a placid smile. "Hello. The vehicle provided by the base for rescued survivors is that bus. This is our squad’s personal vehicle, and we can’t take on strangers, I’m afraid."

The woman’s expression faltered. Forcing her anger down, she smiled and tried to push past Song Kexin. "Aren’t you the rescue team from the base? Why make a distinction between a ’base vehicle’ and a ’private vehicle’? They’re all dispatched by the base, aren’t they?"

"I’m sorry, but ever since having my baby, my back acts up on long trips. I can’t possibly sit on those hard bus benches."

"Ma’am, if that’s a problem, you can always go back upstairs. It would be much more comfortable for you to just stay home." Yu Tianfeng approached, carrying a small piece of equipment. "Excuse me, please let me through."

The woman’s expression shifted multiple times. She wanted to argue further, but several team members simply brushed past her into the MPV, and the door slid shut automatically.